Refuse-treating apparatus



June'24, '1930. G. A. BOZE I RE'USE TREATING APPARATUS original Fnedoct. 21. 1927 lNvENToR 6.'1Boze.

o AV O w N W ,Ni w. O O o. w W I. WYW w A'rroRNEY Patentecl June 24, 1930 PATENT OFFICE GEORGE A. BOZE, OF DETROIT LAKES, MINNESOTA REFUSE-TREATING APPARATUS Original application flled October 21, 1927, Serial No. 227,748. Divided and this ap'pli' ication filed October The invention primarily has for its object to provide a simple and effective construction of combined macerator and drier especially adapted for use in connection With apparatus for converting garbage and sewage into fuel and fertilizer.

In its more detailed nature the invention seeks to provide means for receiving the refuse from the treating tanks to crush and macerate the same and expel from the mass its moisture content and to reduce the solids to dry powdered form.

More specifically the invention provides a combined macerator and drier of a simple and effective construction in which the drying instrumentalities are so located that the steam generated from the material being dried Will in part pass up through the macerator and act on the contents thereof to give the material in the macerator a preliminary steaniing before it passes through the drying mechanism.

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed out hereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends, my invention consists in the novel details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will be first fully described in the following detailed description, then be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, 'in which Figure 1 is an elevation illustrating my apparatus.

Figure 2 is an enlarged Vertical cross section taken .through the axis of the crushing and macerating head and transversely of the heating rollers.

Figure 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken through the crushing and maceratlng head.

Figure 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic fragmentary section illustrating one means of heating the rollers.

In the drawing, in which like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures, 1 represents the motor which drives the stirrer of the agitating mechanism and the Serial No. 400,098.

rollers of the drying mechanism in a manner presently to be explained.

My invention also includes a frusto-conical casing 2 which is large at its top or receiving end and small at its bottom or delivery end. In the casing 2 is positioned a plurality of vertically disposed V-shaped stationary cutters 3 which are provided with teeth 4 that project inwardly toward the axis of the casing and between which teeth similar teeth 5 project radially from the cutter head 6 that is rotatably mounted in the casing. The teeth 5 pass through between the teeth 4. eomb-fashion and serve to cut out and maeerate any solids delivered into the casing.

lt will be observed by reference to ligure 3 of the drawing that the stationary cutters 8 present angled faces 7 to the material it is carried around by the rotary cutter. which faces serve to force the material into the teeth or toward the axis of the casing.

At its upper end the macerating or crushing device is provided with a suitable receiving hopper 8 and at its lower end with a discharge collar 9 beneath which collar is located a pair of oppositely rotated heated rollers 10 mounted in close parallel relation and which serve to heat and there crush the material delivered to them. The steam or vapors generated by these crushing rollers in part works up through the collar 9 into the casing 2 where it encounters the materials being worked upon and imparts thereto an initial heating and drying action.

As the materials pass through the rollers 10 they are delivered by a scraping and direeting pan 11 onto another set of rollers of identical construction with the first mentioned set except that they are placed in Closer relation so as to impart a finishing heat and crushing action to the material passed therethrough which serves to reduce it to a substantially dry powdered state.

It will be noticed that the directing pan 11 is of frusto-conical form wider' at the top than at the bottom so as to deflect the mai scraper and directing pin 13 into a receiving hopper 14 which in turn delivers into a screw conveyor 15 that takes the materials to a receiving bin 16 from which they may be sacked or filled into suitable containers if desii'ed, as indicated by 17 in Figure 1.

Any suitable ineans may be provided for hea'ting the rollers 10 and 12.

As an example, in F igure 4 I have diagrammatically illustrated one means in which the rollers may be lieated. In this figure the rollei's are shown as opeii at their ends and mounted on spiders 18 through which gas flames 19 may be directed into the interior of the rollers to heat the same. The rollers may be steam lieated, if preferred.

In order to drive the macerator head 6 and the rollers 10 and 12 I provide a motor 1 (hereiiibefore referred to) geared to a worm sliaft 20, as at 21, the worm shaft being suitably mounted and connected to drive the sliaft of the cuttei' head 6 through a countershaft 22 and bevelled gear connections 23-24. "orms 25 are also provided at proper intervals to engagc witli worm Wheels 26 that drive the respective pairs of rollers, the rollers of each pair being caused to operate in i'everse direction by meshing` gears 27.

In the practical use of my invention the materials to be operated upon are deposited into the receiving hopper from the settling tanks in an suitable way as, for example, by a suita le conveyor mechanism (not shown). It is, of course, understood, that the materials deposited into the hoppers shall have had their fluid content drained as much as possible during the settling process so that wlien they are introduced into the hopper it will be pi'eferably as a tank sludge. Such of the fluid content, however, as may remain Will drain out through the macerator casiiig 2 and dropping on the heated rollers will be converted into steam rapidly enou h so that no moisture passes`through the rying roller system into the receiving hopper 14. The genei'ation of steam in this Way, as Well as from the moisture content from the ground and macerated sludge deposited on the rollers, assists in heating the contents of the casing 2 and in a measure augments the drying action'ofv the roll'ei's 10 and 15 by imparting a preliminary drying to the materials in the casiiig 2.

By Shaping the hopper as an inverted frustocone the materials, as the water content is being eliminated, have a tendency to Shrink, and this is taken care of by the downwardly converging wall of the casing 2, thereby maintaining a full feed of material to the lmves throughout the length of the macerator. In this way the materials are thoroughly ground and macerated before the pass throu h the collar or throat 9 onto the fieating and, rying rollers b' which they are further maslied and tlie resi ual water driven off so that by the time the materials reach the hopper 14 they will be in the condition of a dry powder.

It will be further understood that while only two sets of drying rollers have been shown a greater number may be employed if necessary, the requirenient bein however, that they all be located in vertica groups so that the materials may pass from one to the other by gravity and tlie steam generated by these rollers may be caused to cooperate With the niacerating elements. Not only does some of the steam pass through the materials in the inacei'ator but that which does pass through passes up and around the outer wall of the casing 2 and in that way imparts heat to the same.

The present application is a division of my application filed October 21, 1927, Serial No. 227,748.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought that the novel details of construction, the manner of use and the advantages of my invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which it i'elates.V

lhat I claim is:

1. In apparatus of the class described, a macci'ator comprisiiig a supporting fi-anie, a vertically disposed casing inountedin said frame, a hopper for delivei'ing material into the upper end of said casing, a sliaft rotatably niounted iii said casing, maceratiiig teeth on the inside of said casing and on said shaft, a tliroat at the delivery end of said casiiig, a pair of parallel crushing rollers beneatli said throat, roller scrapers associated with said rollers, and means to heat said rollers all being arranged whereby the steam generated by the crushing rollers is so confined that it rises to the macerator and preliminarily dries the material being treated at that place.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a

macerator comprising a supporting frame, a.

verticallyV disposed casing mounted in said frame, a hopper for delivering material into the upper end of said casing, a shaft rot'atably mounted in said casing, niacerating teeth on the inside of said casing and on said shaft, a throatat the delivery end of said casing, a pair of parallel crushing rollers beneath said throat, roller scrapers associated with said rollers, means to heat said rollers, said casing being of frusto-conical form with the larger end uppermost and said teeth being longer at the top than at the bottom according to the diameter of said casing all being arranged whereby the steam generated by thecrushing rollers is so confined thatit rises to the macerator and'preliminarily dries the material being treated at that place.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a combined macerator, drier and crusher comprisiug a supporting frame, a vertically disposed casing mounted in said frame, a hopper for delivering material into the upper end of said casing, means within the casin for macerating the material passing throug the casing, a throat at the delivery end of said casing, a pair of parallel crushing rollers located beneath said throat and in juxtaposition thereto, between which rollers the material passed from the vertically disposed casing is caused to pass with crushing effect, means for heating said crushing rollers all being arranged whereby the steam generated bv the crushing rollers is so confined that it rises to the macerator and preliminarily dries the material being treated at that place.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a combined macerator, drier and crusher comprising a supporting frame, a receiving hopper at the top of the frame, a depending macerator casing extending downwardly from the hopper, macerating elements within the casing, a series of sets of crushing and drying rollers located directly beneath the macerator casing, the upper set of rollers being in proximity thereto, and means for turning said rollers and Operating said macerating means all being arranged whereby the steam generated by the crushing rollers is so confined that it rises to the macerator and preliminarily dries the material being treated at that place.

5. In apparatus of the class described, a

combined macerator, drier and crusher comprising a supporting frame, a receiving hopper at the top of the frame, a depending macerator casing extending downwardly from the hopper, macerating elements within the casing, a series of sets of crushing and drying rollers located directly beneath the macerator casing, the upper set of rollers being in proximity thereto, means for turning said rollers and Operating said macerating means, a receiving hopper and ofl'take conveyor beneath the lower set of rollers, the rollers of said sets being progressively closer together from the top set toward the bottom, all being arranged'whereby the steam generated by the crushing rollers is so confined that it rises to the macerator and preliminarily dries the material being treated at that place.

GEORGE A. BOE. 

